The King is Alive
by chessru
Summary: What if The Supreme King defeated Axel, and Jaden truly embraced the darkness? But another threat grows. Can the two parties really work to defeat the true evil? I'm far too lazy to write it fully canonically (is that a word? Autocorrect has not signified otherwise), but I'll do the best I can
1. The Darkness Rises

(A.N Welcome to my first fanfic ever! Also my first real piece of fiction ever. This takes place right before Jaden ties with Axel as Supreme King. I was thinking, what if Jaden won the duel?

Anyways, I'm a big fan of JadenxAlexis, so I'm not going to omit that either. Enjoy!)

The Supreme King watched with a menacing smile as Volcanic Doomfire (Atk: 3000) was forced to attack his own Malicious Fiend (Atk: 3500).

However, Axel knew that Volcanic Doomfire would inflict the same amount of damage to Jaden's 200 lifepoints, ending the duel In a draw.

Smirking, the Supreme King saw Axel's life points reach 0 as he heard Axel cry out with pain, each molecule of his body being ripped apart to be sent into the stars.

 _After I get these annoying pests out of the way,_ he muttered, glancing at Zane, Syrus, and Aster with disgust, _I'll finally be able to get a move on with things._

Suddenly, through of the smoke and debris, The Supreme King caught sight of a figure hurtling towards him, growing larger and larger until he realized with astonishment that it was Axel.

The King watched in horror as a red, glowing sphere seemed to entrance his own body, becoming brighter and brighter, filling the darkness, the void of his mind, penetrating every shadow of his consciousness as Jaden blacked out.

A few moments later…

"The Supreme King is Dead!" roared Zane, as he forcefully flung the black helmet into the midst of the growling fiends. He gave a satisfied smile as he felt fear beginning to spread amongst them.

 _Hmph,_ he thought. _That's one problem down._

 **But none of the heroes saw the green, glowing, magic card through the smoke, standing face-up on Jaden's field,** ** _Emergency Provisions._**

 _(_ How much I wanted to cliffhanger here lol, but then you guys would just never read it again cause nothing has happened yet)

 _—_

Black and green mist swirled around Jaden as he found himself standing in what seemed to be another dimension. The ground was rugged with rocks, and he almost lost his balance.

 _No,_ he thought, _not another dimension, I've been here before. This is my mind._

He felt the presence before he heard the chilling, mechanical voice, "Welcome, Jaden."

It was a voice he had never before heard, so strange that it filled him with fear, yet it was oddly familiar. A shadow emerged from the darkness, hazy at first then growing clearer and clearer. _I-I've seen this before,_ Jaden realized, a fraction of a millisecond before another Jaden appeared before him.

The person was dressed in a blazing red Slifer uniform, the one which Jaden identified himself by. Every part of him was like Jaden, yet it wasn't. He was golden eyed, and every part of him radiated power and coldness.

"You again!" He shouted, adapting a hostile stance toward the other, as if preparing for a fight. Unfortunately, his duel disk wasn't there when he subconsciously tried reaching for it.

"You lied to me! My friends _do_ care about me!" Jaden shouted at the figure.

He felt anger, pure, hot, molten anger coursing through his veins as he snarled at the Supreme King. Every fiber of his body wanted to destroy this man who had deceived him for so long, the man who had killed his friends. "You said you had unlimited power, yet you lost!"

The Supreme King only smirked, his composure not faltering for even a second. "Lost, you say? Take another look." He waved his hand as a screen appeared to the left of Jaden, smiling.

"Emergency Provisions," Jaden gasped softly, unable to stop himself.

The Supreme King snickered, "Of course. Did you really think I would lose?"

In the midst of his anger towards the King, Jaden felt another small emotion that he couldn't place his finger on. Was it, could it be… admiration? The ability to think coolly, even in the most dire of duels… _No, it can't be, this man was responsible for the deaths of my friends, and…_

"It doesn't change the fact that you lied about my friends!" screamed Jaden, trying to block out his previous thoughts. "They are the things dearest to me AND YOU TOOK THEM AWAY! THEY CARE ABOUT ME!"

A moment of silence followed. The only thing that could be heard were Jaden's ragged breaths. The King only watched Jaden with amusement.

"Do you really think so?" The Supreme King's voice was barely audible, yet his words pervade the entire world.

The Supreme King flicked his wrist.

A new screen instantly appeared, as Jaden saw Syrus walk away from him, leaving him. Countless other screens materialized, one after the other, and Jaden watched in horror as he caught glimpses of Chazz's body exploding into a thousand pieces as he glared at Jaden; Axel turning to follow Syrus without a word; the fear on Jim's face as he caught sight of the Supreme King; Jesse…

The screen's multiplied, each worse than the next, but with each person chanting Jaden's name hatefully.

Finally, when Jaden thought he couldn't take it anymore, he saw it clearly, Alexis' body bursting into golden fragments as her final words cursed him for what he had done.

Jaden fell to the floor, hands covering his ears, tears falling from his eyes, "No… no more, I'm begging, PLEASE!"

Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the screens dissolved into darkness once more, leaving only Jaden on his knees, trembling. Sharp rocks dug into his knees, causing bloodied gashes, but he didn't seem to notice.

Standing menacingly in front of him was the Supreme King, smirking.

"I'm done here." The cold voice echoed from the Supreme King's mouth. "I will leave you to return." As he turned around and began to walk away…

"Wait."

The King stopped in his tracks.

Jaden slowly rose, his head down and a shadow over his face. The tears were gone. Blood flowed freely down his legs.

"I give body to the Supreme King." He spoke in a voice that wasn't his.

"I give my mind to darkness."

He didn't hear the Supreme King chuckle. He only felt the darkness slowly rising, up to his ankles, twisting their way up his legs, enveloping his body. It felt metallic, empty, and repulsive, but instead of resisting, he embraced it. He let it consume him, filling his thoughts on nothing but revenge. Soon, the darkness filled his mind as he felt no more.

—

(A.N. From now on, I'll be referring to The Supreme King/Jaden as solely Jaden, since they are basically one person now. Same way as when Jaden dueled with the power of the Supreme King to protect his friends)

The first thing he felt was a blanket separating him from the cold, hard earth as he lay face-up. He felt sunlight streaming onto his closed eyes. Never before had the sun seemed so unfamiliar, so cold. Never before had the light seemed so uncomfortable.

"He's still alive," he heard a voice say, filled with an emotion Jaden labelled as excitement. The emotion seemed alien and distant to Jaden.

The voice rung a faraway bell in Jaden's mind. He vaguely remembered it. It slowly dawned on him that this voice belonged to a man by the name of Syrus Truesdale. He felt as though he had met this person in a past life…

Jaden feigned sleep for a while more to gather information about his location. He eventually understood that he was in the company of Vellian Crowler, Zane Truesdale, Syrus Truesdale, Aster Phoenix, and Echo. He began to remember each person, meeting them, fighting with them.

With each memory his hatred towards them grew. All along they had pretended to be his friend, pretended to help, but he could hear them laughing behind his back.

Overtaken by hatred, Jaden accidentally snarled out loud, but the others only interpreted it as a bad dream.

"I hope he's okay," Jaden heard Vellian Crowler say.

Knowing that in his present condition, he was in no shape to fight. Willing his eyes to turn brown again, Jaden opened his eyes. For now, he had to pretend like he was the old Jaden. Until he regained enough power, that is.

"You're awake," squealed Syrus, as he saw Jaden regain consciousness. Syrus searched Jaden's eyes, but didn't find a speck of gold. Feeling satisfied, he leapt to Jaden's side and embraced him.

Jaden didn't understand why strong duelists like Zane and Aster would keep someone like as useless as Syrus around, much less weaklings like Ojama Yellow, who was floating a few inches above the blue-haired boy, but Jaden played the part convincingly nonetheless.

"Good to see you Syrus," said Jaden. He tried to put as much emotion into his voice as possible, but it wasn't easy. _Ugh,_ he thought to himself, disgusted, _how long am I going to have to keep this up?_

 _I'll wait until I recover, and then these people are really going to have to pay._

The others, seeing the commotion, rushed over and crowded around him. They seemed genuinely happy to see Jaden, but he only smirked on the inside.

 _Getting attached to their so-called friends, is it?_ _It's a wonder that they are strong at all, relying on others to help them_.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jaden saw Zane reaching out to pick up his Evil Hero deck. Jaden whirled around, snarling "Give that back!"

Immediately, he snatched the deck, pushing Zane away. Glancing at it, Jaden saw that his Evil Heroes were still there. _And they didn't see the Evil Heroes either. Close one._ He breathed a sigh of relief, before catching the looks of the others.

They stared at Jaden with astonishment at Jaden's outburst, while Zane narrowed his eyes. Jaden propped himself up with one arm and glared back at them. He felt his anger boiling over once more.

These were the people who had abandoned him, and left him to fend for himself. These were the people who hated him, and feigned friendship.

Jaden felt his eyes on the verge of becoming yellow. _No!_ He willed himself to calm down, taking silent breaths to dissipate his anger. The feeling slowly faded inside him. He breathed a sigh of relief. _That was close._

He glanced at the crowd of faces gazing at him, some filled with concern, some suspicion. _Uh oh. That's not good._

Aster was the first to break the silence, "Jaden's probably just overwhelmed with what happened to him. It's a lot for one person to handle." His faced was filled with concern, but Jaden detected a hint of suspicion in those eyes.

"We should let him rest for now."

The others nodded their assent, before walking away. Syrus cast a worried glance back at Jaden before hurrying to join the others.

"Finally some peace and quiet," he muttered to himself.

—

The moon shone on a lonely figure, standing on the edge of the hill as Aster walked up to that figure. The two stood side by side for a few moments, gazing at the darkness. The trees rustled as an ominous wind blew past, and they both wondered what was in store for them past these dark trees.

"What did you want to discuss with me, Zane?" Aster's voice was grave, and he looked at his close friend in concern.

But he knew the answer before Zane even opened his mouth.

"It's Jaden," Zane muttered, glancing around to make sure no one was listening. "He's not like his old self."

"I got that feeling as well." Aster shook his head, "But I still think it's because Jaden blames himself for losing his friends. It'd be a pretty big shock for me as well."

Zane considered this for a brief moment, before answering. "I know, but he didn't seem to care about the ones he "killed," much less the ones standing before him. Besides, there was something else weird."

Aster glanced up in surprise. "What's that?" he said.

"Jaden's deck should have returned to normal now, right? Now that the darkness is gone."

"Don't tell me…" Aster's eyes were filled with astonishment, and was it… fear?

"I caught sight of the bottom card when Jaden took his deck. It was dark, unlike any Elemental Hero I've seen. But not unlike…"

He let the sentence hang in the air.

Aster sighed. "I don't know. But after all that Jaden's done for us, I say we put some faith in to him."

"I guess you're right. Maybe I'm just imagining things."

—

(A.N. I'll just skip straight to the "duel" with Yubel because the exodia duel and zane's "death" pretty much go as expected. (Aster and Zane both "die"))

Yubel stood at the edge of her tower, gazing down into the desolate land. Soon, three figures emerged from the darkness

She widened her eyes and smiled when she saw Jaden and others approaching. During her duel with Zane, she had sensed the dark presence residing inside him. No, not residing. _Controlling._

 _The King is alive after all_ , she thought with satisfaction. _And my master and I will soon be reunited_. She faded into the darkness as she awaited her love.

Jaden quickened his pace, wanting to see Yubel again in her true form after all these years. "Just you wait, Yubel," he said softly. "I'm coming."

Syrus' head snapped up, "What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing. Let's hurry up."

Jaden's exasperation toward Syrus and Crowler was growing by the minute. In fact, he had been tempted to ditch them and send them both straight to the stars when they had entered the door. With no one to witness, it would have easy pickings for the power Jaden possessed.

Unfortunately, Jaden knew that death in this world merely brought one into another dimension. Once he returned to the human world, they would be transported back as well.

He didn't want to let them know too early that he was the Supreme king, so he didn't do anything too drastic.

Thus, Jaden proceeded without showing any emotion.

Throughout the entire journey, Syrus was becoming increasingly wary of Jaden. From the moment Jaden had opened his eyes, he seemed different. Less like the warm, cheerful Jaden and more like…

Syrus pushed the thought out of his mind. _How dare you accuse Jaden of such things!_ he chided himself. _After all he's been through, all the friends he has lost, of course he'd be sad and distant!_

But he couldn't help taking a step back when he looked at Jaden. His eyes seemed to flash yellow for a split second before returning to brown.

"There you go again doubting your friend again," Syrus muttered.

As they neared the elevator, Jaden realized suddenly that he couldn't let the others see his cards, since they were still Evil Heroes, which would give him away immediately.

Thus, he couldn't duel in front of them. Thinking quickly, he came up with a plan.

"Listen guys, why don't you guys stay down here while I fight Yubel?" Jaden knew the answer from each even before anyone opened his mouth.

"Great idea!" -Crowler and Ojama Yellow

"No way!" -Syrus

Jaden sighed internally. "Listen Sy, I know you want to support me, but I have a new card. It creates an explosion so big that only the duelists can survive, and I'm planning on using it on Yubel. So please, wait for me."

Syrus seemed to struggle internally before reluctantly agreeing.

Satisfied, Jaden took the elevator the top floor, smirking as he did. As he reached the top, he heard a voice, a voice he hadn't hear in years.

"Jaden my love, I've been awaiting your arrival."

He saw Yubel kneeling on the floor facing him.

Even as the Supreme King, he was shocked for a second before returning to his cold demeanor. Yubel had returned to her old form, a beautiful, pale girl with wings and an eye in the middle of her forehead.

"Yubel, I-I've missed you. I'm so sorry for sending you to space."

Smiling, she flew to Jaden and hugged him tightly, and he returned the gesture. Tears flowed from both pairs of eyes. It was the closest thing Jaden had felt to happiness for a long time.

"Now let us return," Yubel said, still hugging him. Jaden nodded contentedly in her ams, and there was a flash of bright light.

Then, all was as before, but the two were gone.

(A.N. And that's the end of this chapter. As I've said before, I'm a huge fan of JadenxAlexis, so that's coming next chapter)


	2. Return

A.N: Ok, so I have a problem with all the fanfic duels. That is, they all rely on wins using ridiculously overpowered cards that even Pegasus would have fainted at. I'll give you an example: a fusion monster with only 2 sacrifices that destroys all enemy cards.

?

Why? Why? Why? Why would anyone print that? I don't know. My rules for dueling will be simple. I only make up cards whenever I think it will actually contribute to a good duel. Also, I ban some cards that are blatantly dumb, like magic cylinder, dark/black hole etc etc. But Pot of Greed isn't banned, because I don't know what it does.

Second, Probability is a thing. Ex. Why does Crowler ALWAYS start with Ancient Gear Golem? Right? I mean, heart of cards and all but still… probability is a thing.

This isn't to say there isn't going to be something like "omg he top decked the winning card, he is so good at video game!" Of course there is going to be that, its yugioh. But Much, much less. Good? good.

Also, I don't own Yugioh GX or any of the characters, but I own this plot.

—

A bright flash of light, almost like a white, hot meteor, soared across the human world sky, gathering awed spectators. Scientists babbled about possible causes while others interpreted it as the world's end. But nowhere did it garner as much attention as the Island of Duel Academy.

Student and teacher alike gazed at the streak of white, hope blossoming in their hearts. The light sped down into the nearby forest outside of the Obelisk Blue dorms, finally smashing down with such an impact that trees were sent flying, and a cloud of dust and debris blossomed into the air.

As the dust cleared, they couldn't believe their eyes. Whoops of laughter and heartfelt greetings could be heard across the clearing, missing students emerged seemingly unscathed. Aster, Alexis, Atticus, Chazz, Hassleberry, Axel, all standing, wide-eyed almost as if In disbelief.

But one particular blue-haired boy, standing at the back of the group facing away from the crowd, was not joining in. His eyes filled with tears as he shouted into the sky, "Jaden! P-please come back!" But the sky remained silent.

—

Dark clouds dominated the night sky, suffocating the moon behind their shadow. A sharp wind bit into his unprotected face, but the boy didn't mind.

Tch, thought Jaden, annoyed, as he carefully made his way across the smoking remains of the second meteor, stepping over fallen trees and smoking terrain. It seems I've been discovered. Oh well, he'll make a good appetizer for Yubel I guess.

By his side, Yubel purred contentedly.

Earlier, Syrus had caught sight of the explosion, and rushed to it, fervently praying that his dear friend had returned. HIs prayers seemed to have been answered when he saw the outline of a figure emerging.

"J-Jaden?" peeped Syrus, wanting to believe that his friend was truly back. He wanted to leap into his friend's arms and embrace him. But an ominous feeling stopped him.

On a second glance, it didn't seem like his friend. There wasn't any of the playful energy or enthusiasm that Syrus associated with Jaden. The boy in the red jacket made no attempt at responding to Syrus, but stood there smirking.

Suddenly, the air around Syrus seemed to drop by twenty degrees, and he couldn't help but shiver. The space seemed to grow darker and darker, as if suffocating the life in the forest. Soon, Syrus couldn't even see his own hand.

Through the darkness, a voice echoed "It seems the Warrior has Returned Alive, hmm?"

The voice sounded cold and metallic that it took a moment for Syrus to realize that that voice was coming from Jaden's mouth.

"W-w-wait, J-jaden, is that you?" he whimpered, hoping that it was only a bad dream, that he would wake up any second.

A pair of floating, golden orbs materialized into the air like a pair of lanterns. They seemed to pierce through the darkness with their golden glow.

Syrus realized in horror that they were eyes - golden eyes.

"But I'd say that this is more like a Monster Reborn, wouldn't you, Syrus?"

—

The first thing that popped into Syrus' head was that Jaden had developed a sense of humor.

He shook his head to clear the thought. No, this person wasn't Jaden. It was the Supreme King. Somehow, he had taken over Jaden again.

"But, but how?" whispered Syrus. Fear. It struck him like a lightning bolt. Fear pervaded throughout his body. Fear so strong and powerful that he wanted to curl up into a ball and never open his eyes again. It was not the fear of the Supreme King that truly scared him.

Although the king was truly terrifying, Syrus had seen and fought his fair share of evils. The true fear was that Jaden, his best friend, might be gone forever. That he might never see Jaden smile again. Fear he hadn't felt since seeing the golden eyes in the duel spirits world.

Syrus couldn't see Jaden clearly through the darkness, but could feel anger and power radiating from his figure. He shrank back in terror as an image of the golden eyed Jaden standing in black armor appeared in his mind.

"No," he whispered. "No, this can't be."

"Fool," Jaden hissed. "You abandoned me, left me to die! Now you will pay!"

Syrus heard the familiar sound of a duel disk whirring and clicking into place. Taking deep breaths, he pushed his fear away. If he was going to get his friend back, he needed to win this duel. Then, maybe Jaden would snap out of it.

He felt his heart slowing down, his breaths becoming more even. I can do this!

"JADEN! I promise I will get you back!" he shouted. He mustered up the rest of his courage and took out his duel disk. He felt the warm, comforting hum as it locked into duel mode, and felt a little better.

"DUEL!"

Syrus heard the chilling words, "It's time to get your game on."

The air became brighter, and he could see Jaden's figure clearly for the first time. He stood tall and menacingly, not even bothering to study his five cards. His face was contorted into a smile that could only be called evil. His eyes, his golden eyes, seemed to glow. They betrayed a glint of anger, a glint of madness. Syrus shivered.

He thought back to the time when Jaden told him to stay behind for the duel with Yubel. Jaden had claimed that he had a card so strong it would create an explosion that would wipe out all nearby life. Was Jaden possessed at that time as well? Was he lying when he had said that?

It doesn't matter, he told himself, his courage slowly returning to his body. What matters is that I get him back!

"Alright, I go first!" he shouted, surprised at the strength in his voice. "I draw!"

He smiled as he saw his cards. It was one of his best combos, excluding fusion summons of course.

"I play Truckoid in defense position!" He said, as a truck appeared on his side of the field.

(Truckoid: Atk: 1000 Def: 2000. When this card destroys a monster your opponent controls by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, equip it to this card. This card gains ATK equal to the combined ATK of the equipped card(s).)

"Then, I set two cards and play Weapon Change!"

(Spell, Weapon Change: You can pay 700 Life Points during each of your Standby Phases to activate this card's effect. Switch the ATK and DEF of 1 Warrior-Type or Machine-Type monster on your side of the field until the end of your opponent's next End Phase. When this card is destroyed, the effect is negated.)

Now, if Jaden plays a minion less than 2000 attack, I can activate Weapon Change and destroy it!

"I draw!" cried Jaden, gazing at his hand.

Then came something Syrus didn't expect. Without even placing a single card, Jaden called,

"I end!"

Not even a facedown? he thought with surprise and suspicion. Did he get a bad starting hand, or what? Is he taunting me? But he didn't brood too long on it.

"I draw! Next, I'll activate the effect of Weapon Change and switch the attack and defense of Truckoid! I'll need to pay 700 life points though." As he said that, his life points became 3400 as an electrical shock ran through his body.

"Urgh," he muttered as he prepared himself for the next play.

As Syrus looked down to study his hand, he inadvertently saw his feet, or rather, the lack of feet. He cried out in surprise.

Slowly raising his head to look Jaden in horror, eyes widening, the implications began to dawn upon him.

"You don't mean…"

Jaden smirked, "I might have forgotten to mention that this duel is going to be a shadow game. The penalty for either player is the forfeit of their soul."

He gave a chuckle before continuing. "I'm sure Yubel will find yours extremely tasty."

"B-but, how?!" cried Syrus, trying to convince himself that it wasn't true.

Jaden only laughed again. "Do you really think the King of Darkness couldn't accomplish that?"

A new fear settled in Syrus' heart, and he couldn't shake it no matter how hard he tried. Even if you win, then Jaden will still lose his soul, a little voice inside of him taunted.

But Syrus couldn't think about that now. He would win, then he would find a way to get Jaden's soul back. But first…

"I switch Truckoid to attack position!"

(Atk: 2000)

He has no way to defend! With this attack, I can reduce his life points by half. Suddenly, indecision swarmed Syrus' mind. Attacking meant bringing Jaden halfway to losing his soul.

Could I really do that to my best friend? Take away his soul? He hesitated.

No. If Jaden were in his place, he would use every means to get Syrus back. No matter how dangerous or difficult, Syrus had no doubt that Jaden would do it for him. The doubt left him in an instant.

"Jaden, I know you're in there somewhere! And I promise, I will free you from the Supreme King's influence! I promise you!" Syrus felt tears forming in his eyes, obscuring his vision.

"Now attack him directly!" cried Syrus, without one fear or regret.

Jaden didn't even bat an eyelash as a full truck smashed into his body. But he did give a slight growl when his life points decreased to 2000.

(Syrus: 3400 LP. Jaden: 2000 LP)

"Please, Jaden, snap out of it. WAKE UP!"

His words seemed to arouse something in Jaden. Jaden stood utterly still for a moment, frozen, staring intently at Syrus.

Did he hear me? wondered Syrus. Will he wake?

As if making a decision, Jaden opened his mouth to speak in the cold, metallic voice. "Is that what you think, that I am being possessed?"

If Syrus could have opened his mouth any wider, his jawbones would have shattered. The voice was not of the Supreme King. It was the voice of… Jaden? Emotions flowed through Syrus as he saw the golden eyes melting into the familiar chocolate brown.

But…

Laughing. Jaden was laughing. No, it could be called cackling. "Do you really think that I am being possessed?"

It was beyond a doubt the voice of Jaden. But there was still a quality to it that Syrus couldn't place. Something that made the voice not entirely Jaden's. "Do you really believe me to be the Supreme King?"

"B-but then, then w-why are you still like this?" Syrus asked, shocked at the sudden transformation. He wanted to believe Jaden had returned, but deep down knew it couldn't be true. Hope turned into desperation as Jaden answered.

Jaden's voice was filled with fury and hate, emotions Syrus had never associated with Jaden before. "I've told you before! You left me! Abandoned me, as with all my so-called friends!"

His hands clenched together. "You all left me for DEAD! Now prepare to feel what I have!" he roared. The brown eyes became golden once more.

With every speck of brown that disappeared from Jaden's eyes, Syrus felt like a piece of his heart was being broken.

"No," he whispered. "No, this can't be happening"

Jaden laughed. "I special summon Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy because I control no minions. I tribute him to summon Evil Hero Malicious Edge! Next, I play Dark Fusion, and fuse Burstinatrix and Avian to form Evil Hero Inferno Wing!"

With each summon, the air darkened and Jaden's hatred and delight grew. But Syrus hardly saw any of it. He didn't feel Malicious Edge's effect dealing 2000 damage to him. He didn't see Inferno Wing charging at him. He didn't realize his body was slowly fading into nothingness. He only felt the despair of knowing that he had lost his friend forever, the thought flashing through his mind as his vision went black.

—

Jaden watched with satisfaction as Syrus' body slowly vanished and a bright, white orb emerged from it, illuminating the ground below. He saw Yubel sucking up the orb greedily, until there was only darkness again.

"How was it, Yubel?" asked Jaden, nonchalantly gazing into the sky.

"Not bad, my liege. But it was hardly a meal. His soul wasn't very powerful. I hope there's going to be more." She smiled.

Jaden continued to gaze up at the sky for a moment, before responding quietly.

"Oh there will be more. Much more," he said in a cold voice as he walked away, Yubel close behind.

Interestingly, a brown, fuzzy ball with wings began to trail the two as they headed for the school.

—

Meanwhile, somewhere…

"He's an empty vessel now," came a man's voice. "We don't even need to take his soul, it's already gone."

The other person standing in the room studied the unconscious blue-haired boy lying on the metal table. He subconsciously shuffled a deck of strange looking cards, then drew the top card.

"Perfect. He is the first, and others will follow. After all, these cards don't lie."

—

And END of chapter 2! Whoohoo! Don't expect chapters to go up this fast in the future, I just happened to have time. I'm thinking maybe once every 1-2 wks/chapter.

R.I.P Syrus

For those of you who thought that Syrus got super unlucky and Jaden super lucky, I guess I'll tell you what I did.

First, I created an optimized decklist for both Jaden and Syrus basing it off of the decks from the Wiki. Then, I did some simple probability calculations. Syrus basically had no chance of getting fusion summons, because he runs so many different cards in his deck. He also doesn't run any strong monsters (According to wiki at least)

I did cut his deck down in my optimization, but I tried to maintain the integrity of the deck. Basically, Syrus' strategy is a drain strategy, protecting his life points by recycling cards from graveyard to his hand while doing direct attacks and such to his opponent.

Meanwhile, the odds of Jaden getting a powerful monster out (like Prodigy - Malicious Edge) or a fusion summon out or a fake hero - malicious edge is ridiculously high. I even excluded "vicious claw" from the deck because it is just so overpowered, and the chances of an amazing start are still almost guaranteed.

Anyways, sorry for the short duel and deleting Syrus, but more intense duels will be had and Syrus will (obviously) be making a return. Just wanted to push Jaden's OPness before truly starting.


	3. The Truth Uncovered

And it's that time of year where a fat red man sneaks down your chimney with a bunch of dangerous reindeer and puts suspicious packages in your house which the TSA would never approve of…

Anyways, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all the reviews, favorites and follows! I only wrote 2 chapters and I already have a lot of support. So thanks for reading this!

Lastly…

Jaden finally returns to DA! What will happen? Will he continue to steal souls? Will he confront his friends? Dun dun DUN

I don't own GX. Duh. But the plot in this thing is mine. Duh.

—

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon, casting an orange glow across the sky. Hassleberry yawned. Morning wasn't his favorite time, but he made it a habit to get up early.

Bleary eyed, Hassleberry stumbled into the bathroom and prepared for the day ahead. As he returned to pick up his stuff, he stared in astonishment at his roommate's bed. It hadn't been slept in the previous night.

 _Is Syrus really that worried about Sarge?_ he thought. It was a given that they were the best of friends, and had been inseparable since the beginning. It was no wonder that Syrus was losing sleep over his best friend, but to not return for the entire night?

Hassleberry shrugged and brushed it off. _I'll see him in class and ask him about it,_ he thought. He cast a final glance at Syrus' empty bed before heading to class. But he couldn't help feeling that something could have happened to his friend. He'd never be able to forgive himself.

Syrus wasn't in class. Throughout the period, Hassleberry kept trying to catch Alexis' eye, thinking that she might have an answer. But she seemed so preoccupied, staring off into space, that he gave up trying, and resigned himself to fear and worry.

He didn't realize that class was dismissed until he noticed Crowler shouting at him. Narrowly missing a detention, he scampered out the door.

Seeing Alexis, Chazz, Atticus, and Fujiwara engrossed in deep conversation some distance away sheltered beneath the shade of a tree, he quickened his pace to meet them.

"Reporting for duty." He saluted as he neared. The others glanced up, and Hassleberry registered the worry on their faces.

"Have you seen Syrus lately?" asked Chazz. It seemed that even Chazz could express concern for his friends.

Hassleberry shook his head. "Private didn't sleep in his bed last night," he said sadly.

Everyone gaped at him. "He what?!" they cried in unison, shock spreading across their face.

"You don't have any idea where he went?" Alexis, who was the first to recover, asked.

Feeling useless, Hassleberry cast his eyes downward and shook his head again. All the guilt and worry that had built up inside him threatened to bubble out. He clenched his hands at his side, and tried to push it down.

Chazz sighed. "First the slacker doesn't return, and now Syrus is missing? What is even going on?" he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Chazz's words jarred him. Hassleberry couldn't take it any longer. "I'm so sorry guys! It's all my fault, I should've taken care of Private. He was my soldier and my responsibility. Now he's gone too!" he babbled. The others stared at him for a split second, before responding.

"I'm sure he's fine," Atticus said quickly, "Syrus is probably just worried about Jaden, just like the rest of us. He'll be back in no time at all." But one could tell that Atticus was saying this to reassure himself as well.

Alexis flinched slightly at hearing Jaden's name, but quickly recovered. No one else noticed.

"I guess you're right," Hassleberry murmured, before wiping his eyes. He looked up again and mustered enough energy for a quick salute. "I apologize for my previous behavior sir. A soldier must never show signs of weakness."

The others were too used to his behavior to even roll their eyes. Before anyone could say anything though, they heard shouts coming from the card shop. Eyebrows raised, they hurried to the commotion.

"Any of you catch what they were shouting about?" Atticus asked, panting.

"Something about Duel Disks not working," Chazz muttered, accelerating his pace.

—

Jaden lay completely still on the edge of the cliff with his arms behind his head, eyes closed. The waves crashed below him. He was utterly alone. Well, except for one person.

Yubel, his duel spirit floating next to him, smirked.

"Still haven't changed, have you, my lord? Skipping class? If I recall, you weren't the most studious person in your past life either," she teased. Jaden didn't stir, but she thought she could detect a slight frown before it was quickly replaced by a calm countenance again.

"And here I thought you were going to get revenge on your friends. I was looking forward to some tasty souls, you know."

Hearing this, Jaden sat up in a flash and glared at her. One of his eyes was golden, while the other was brown. Then he sighed.

"I already told you Yubel, I sensed something weird when I first arrived here. I want to figure out what is behind all this before moving forward with my own plans," he said.

His voice didn't have the same metallic tone as her beloved King, but Yubel knew that there was no distinction between the two. Now, they were the one and same person.

Yubel decided to see how far she could actually push Jaden. "Seems like you still care about your friends," she said evenly.

She saw his eyes widen, then narrow in surprise and anger. "NEVER!" he shouted.

Yubel only put up her hands/claws in surrender. "I know, I know," she said, chuckling. "I just enjoy teasing you."

Jaden only growled in exasperation, continuing to glare at her. Finally, he dropped his glare and just sighed and shook his head. "You're unbearable, Yubel, did you know that?"

She only grinned at him in response.

—

Alexis walked alone along the path to Sheppard's office, having collected all the defective cards from Obselisk Blue. Suddenly, she heard a sound which sounded like a cross between a pigeon and an owl.

"Who's there?" she demanded, whipping her head around to see who or what had caused it, almost dropping the cards in the process. But she didn't see anything.

 _Must be my imagination_ , Alexis thought. She uttered a humorless laugh before continuing on. _I think I'm going insane_.

But before she had even taken three more steps…

 _Coo_. The sound again. She tried in vain to locate it, barely able to avoid chucking all the defective cards onto the ground.

"Argh," she cried out loud, covering her ears and closing her eyes. "Get out of my head!"

After taking a few deep breaths, Alexis managed to calm down. _Imagine is somehow saw the_ Queen of Obelisk Blue _like this,_ she thought dryly.

Opening her eyes, the sight that greeted her really did cause her to drop her cards this time, scattering them onto the ground.

But she hardly noticed. Instead, she was too preoccupied with what was standing, no, floating, two feet away from her face. Alexis recognized it immediately. "You-you're…"

 _Winged Kuriboh?_

After recovering from her initial shock, Alexis studied the creature carefully.

It was a fuzzy brown ball, no larger than a soccer ball, with large white wings and adorable eyes-undoubtedly the spirit that Jaden possessed-

 _Jaden._

Alexis didn't bother questioning what was even going on. She didn't care if she was hallucinating. "Is-is he alive?" she gasped, praying that he was.

 _Coo_. But somehow, this time, she understood it perfectly.

 _Yes_ , it said. She almost fell down in astonishment. She wasn't sure which she was more amazed by, seeing and understanding Kuriboh or the news of Jaden.

If anyone else had told her that Jaden was alive, she would've thought that they were playing a cruel joke on her. But Kuriboh wouldn't do that, right?

"If he's alive, then take me to him!" she cried, not even bothering to hide the desperation in her voice. After all this time, she would finally be able to see him again…

Alexis thought she could detect a slight droop in Kuriboh's posture. _I-I can't,_ it said sadly.

Normally, Alexis would have demanded an explanation. But seeing the change in attitude, she hesitated.

"Is something wrong?" she asked softly.

Kuriboh looked at her. She swore that she could see tears forming in its eyes.

 _There are a few things I need to explain,_ it said.

—

"Jeez, what's taking her so long," complained Atticus. "My arms are gonna fall off holding these cards if she keeps this up."

The four boys stood near the Chancellor's building with the defective cards collected.

"Give her some time," Chazz shot at Atticus. "At least she didn't start flirting in the middle of a job unlike someone here." Chazz glared at Atticus, who didn't even seem remotely ashamed.

"Hey what can I say, I'm-" he began, but was cut off the sight of Alexis walking towards them. He broke into a grin, "Hey look who's back!"

"Um Atticus, I don't think now's the best time…" muttered Chazz.

"What? Why-… Oh." Atticus realized what Chazz was saying.

Alexis' entire body language radiated shock, as she staggered towards them like a machine. There was no fluidity in her movements, and she seemed to have to fight to take even a single step. Her eyes were filled with a look of desperation. Were those -tears?

"Lex?" Atticus said softly. He looked at her with worry, and began to run towards her.

As if noticing them for the first time, she looked up, her expression frozen. Then, without warning, she collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

—

She woke in a grassy field, completely alone. There was no Atticus, no Chazz, no Hassleberry, no Fujiwara. Alexis looked down and saw that she was still wearing her school uniform.

There was a slight breeze, but besides that, nothing moved. There was something familiar about the place, tantalizingly familiar, but she couldn't place her finger on what it was.

Suddenly, Alexis realized that something was very…

Odd, she thought. There's normally always animals at Duel Academy Island. But no matter how hard she strained her ears, she could not make out a single sound. No bird calls, no monkey screeches, nothing. As if all the life had suddenly disappeared off the island.

Feeling fear gnawing at her, she shrugged the feeling aside and stood up. As she did so, she caught sight of a flash of red in her periphery. Turning, she saw someone facing away from her, standing still. He had brown hair, a red blazer, and blue jeans.

Alexis would have recognized that person anywhere. "Jaden?" she said softly.

The person appeared to not have heard. Alexis slowly walked closer, become more apprehensive with every step. "Jaden," she said, louder this time.

The person spun around. Alexis felt her heart skip a beat as she could only stop and stare. It was the same Jaden that she had known for so long.

She felt tears streaming down her face as she saw the friend that had been missing for so long.

Her heart ached, and she found herself running towards him.

"Jaden!" Alexis sobbed, reaching out for an embrace.

Before she was able to reach him, she felt a strange force gluing her feet to the ground, fixing her in place. She looked at Jaden more closely. His eyes harden at her, his expression growing emotionless and cold.

Suddenly, she heard a chilling voice. "You expect me to fall for your trick again?"

It was Jaden's voice. She looked at him in horror.

"What do you mean, Jaden?" she whispered. "What are you saying?"

"My so-called friends betrayed me, you betrayed me," he growled, eyes flashing. "Now you think you can just pretend to be my friend again?"

"No," she whispered softly. "No, I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Tears began to blur her vision. Through her tears, she saw a three eyed creature materialize next to Jaden. Yubel.

"No," she whispered, as she saw Jaden lean over to Yubel for a kiss. The meadow began to dissolve into a blur of color. "No!" she screamed, reaching her hands out in front of her, as if to grasp the disappearing scene, as the world went black once more.

—

"Oh good, she's awake."

Atticus?

"Let's hope she doesn't fall unconscious again."

At this point, Alexis opened her eyes, catching sight of the old crew. She was lying in a white bed, presumably in the hospital wing. Atticus, Hassleberry, Chazz, and…

"Zane?" Alexis cried out in wonder. She couldn't help but feel a little disgust at her old friend. After what he had done, she wasn't sure what to think about him. Apparently it showed in her voice too. She tried to force herself to sit up, but instantly felt dizzy.

"Woah there," said Atticus, helping her lie back down. "Doctor said you should be lying down for now."

"I'm sorry Alexis, for what I've done in the past. Please forgive me," Zane said, as he bowed his head.

Alexis shook her head. "Zane apologizing? Now I've seen everything," she said, a trace of humor in her voice. "I forgive you Zane. I've seen what power can do to a person-"

Her voice suddenly stopped working as her mind flashed to a certain individual. She felt tears beginning to build in her eyes.

"Are you okay, Alexis?" asked Atticus, voice this with emotion.

Alexis took a few deep breaths, then nodded as best she could lying down. "I'm good. But, how did Zane get here?"

After giving a muddled explanation, everyone turned back to Alexis. "Forgive me for asking, Alexis," said Zane, "but what exactly happened?"

Alexis debated for a moment about whether to tell them.

Coming to a decision, she sighed, knowing that they would have to know eventually. "All right, but I'm warning you, it's a long story."

—

(flashback)

 _So Jaden is back, but he's not himself_ , Kuriboh explained in conclusion.

Alexis and Kuriboh were sitting under a tree as Kuriboh finished his story. It glanced at Alexis to judge her reaction. She was sitting stone faced, eyes fixed to an arbitrary location in the distance.

Upon further inspection, it noticed that her hands were tightly clenched, fingernails drawing drops of blood.

Kuriboh thought Alexis was taking all the information relatively well. _At least she didn't have a breakdown_ , it thought in relief. Despite being a spirit with infinite wisdom and omnipotence, it was clueless when it came to comforting crying girls.

Good thing Kuriboh's are gender neutral. Kuriboh glanced at Alexis again.

A single tear found its way down Alexis' cheek, splashing down onto the ground and vanishing without a trace.

All the emotions in Alexis threatened to consume her as they raged inside her. Hopelessness, doubt, anger, desperation all clouded her mind. As if a giant void had opened and enveloped everything good, leaving only evils. It left Alexis feeling overwhelmed, yet at the same time, a feeling of hollowness overshadowed her soul.

 _Alexis?_ Kuriboh asked softly. _Are you okay?_

The girl suddenly snapped. Without warning, a hand shot up and grabbed Kuriboh from the air by the neck. Kuriboh found itself inches away from Alexis' face. Her eyes betrayed the anguish she was feeling.

"You're lying!" she snarled, maintaining the vice grip onto the brown furball. "There's no way Jaden would leave us like that! Tell me the truth, WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?"

Kuriboh hung his head sadly. _I'm sorry Alexis. I know how you feel._

"No you don't!" Alexis said angrily, her grip so tight it started to choke Kuriboh. "You don't understand at all! You don't even care about him!"

Tears began to run freely down her face, forming rivers of despair on her cheeks. Her body became racked by sobs, as she let go of Kuriboh and weeped into her hands. Kuriboh watched the crying girl silently, a torrent emotions running through his own mind.

Eventually, her crying subsided, leaving only sharp intakes of breath. Alexis got to her feet unsteadily, seeming to forget that Kuriboh was there. Shakily, step after step, she began to make her way to Sheppard's office.

—

"And then I made my way to you guys, but I guess I passed out."

Everyone stared at Alexis with wide-eyed concern.

"So, slacker is…" Chazz couldn't seem to finish his question.

Alexis nodded at him. "Yeah. He's not possessed, but still faults us. I don't blame him either. I-I left him and betrayed him. It was my fault." She looked down at the bed.

Suddenly, she felt Atticus' grip on her hand.

"Lex, you know its not your fault," he said, voice firm but gentle. "Jaden's been through a lot, always putting his friends as his priority. Eventually, he snapped because of the pressure and needed someone to blame. So stop blaming yourself!"

"But because of me, Jaden will never come ba-" she cried out, but was cut off.

"No. We will get Jaden back." Alexis' eyes widened when she saw that it was Zane who had spoken. "I owe him my life and then some, and I plan on repaying the favor."

Alexis gave a small smile. Although she had lost Jaden, it was comforting to that her friends were always behind her, supporting her.

"That's right soldier!" cried Hassleberry. "Me, Atticus, Chazz, Zane, and Fujiwara are gonna always be by your side!"

"Hey that reminds me," interrupted Chazz. "Where is Fujiwara?"

Hassleberry looked around and a small look of confusion passed across his face. "Who's that?"

"He's the-" Chazz began. A look of confusion passed across his face as well. "Wait, never mind."

The entire group forgot about Fujiwara, and continued to talk. All of them but Zane, who gave a sharp look in their direction, eyes narrowed as if in deep thought.

The window next to the bed showed the sun slowly descending, twinkling stars materializing in the night sky.

As they talked, Alexis felt a small twinge of guilt at not telling them about Syrus and that one other thing. But she ignored the feeling and continued to gaze at the stars.

—

The dim light barely penetrated into the recesses of the building, but the man didn't seem to be bothered by the darkness as he made his way quickly down to the basement.

Arriving at his destination, he felt a prickling feeling on his neck. Without bothering to turn, he called out to it. "If you're following me, then you should probably leave. If you don't I can't promise you that you'll return alive."

Laughter ensued as a brown-haired boy dressed in red stepped from the shadows. "Not bad at all, Fujiwara. Or should I say, _Honesty_?" As if by magic, a card suddenly appeared in the mysterious person's hand. The card, "Honesty."

Honesty glared at the person. "How did you know? And how did you know I was going to be here?"

Little did he know that _someone else_ was watching as well.

The boy gave no response, but instead, whispered something that sounded almost like a chant, too faint for him to hear.

A three-eyed demon materialized next to him, causing Honesty to leap back in shock.

From the shadows, Zane forced himself not to gasp as he caught sight of the monster who had "killed" him slowly emerge.

"He's all yours, Yubel," the boy said softly, almost lovingly. In an instant, Honesty began to feel hazy. His thoughts, his memories, his feelings all began to vanish. He knew that his soul was slowly disappearing, but he didn't seem to care. He only watched with empty eyes as white essence began floating from his body, right into the gaping jaws of Yubel. _I'm sorry, Fujiwara_ , was his last thought. Almost all of his life force was gone now. He watched it slowly dwindle, until...

Zane couldn't take it anymore. "Stop Jaden! This isn't you!" he shouted, moving so that Jaden would see him clearly.

It was very uncharacteristic of Zane to make such rash decisions. Perhaps even more calculating than Bastion, Zane would always analyze the situation before rushing into it. He would hardly ever take risks. Facing head on a strong adversary who caught even him off guard was most uncharacteristic.

But he couldn't stop himself. Maybe it was as a way of repenting for the way he had treated his own cards that he stepped in to save this one. Maybe because of his changes in the Monster World that he was taking more risks now. But more than anything else, maybe he didn't want to lose Jaden to the darkness as he had a year ago.

Hearing Zane, Jaden held up a hand, signaling Yubel to stop, which she did, albeit unwillingly. Then, Jaden turned to face Zane, a smirk plastered across his face. There wasn't an ounce of surprise or fear on his face. Only pure, sadistic delight. But underneath that facade, Zane knew that there was something else. _Pain._

He knew, because he had experienced it all too well. The feeling of betrayal, of hopelessness. He intended to stop Jaden before it was too late.

"Just out of curiosity, how did you know I was here?" Jaden asked, as if this was a normal meeting between two acquaintances.

Zane motioned toward Fujiwara. "I thought something was wrong with him, and I guessed that he would be here. Turns out I was right."

Taking a closer look at Jaden's eyes, Zane could see that they were indeed the chocolate brown that was so familiar.

 _So it isn't the Supreme King,_ he thought to himself. _Well then._

"Jaden, I know that you feel betrayed! I know your pain! But blaming your friends and hurting others isn't going to do anything to ease that!" he said. "Don't forget that I've felt the darkness before as well!"

Jaden scoffed. "You think you've felt this before? What you've experienced is nothing. _Nothing_ , do you hear me? Besides, don't forget that _you_ also left me to rot."

Frowning, Zane realized that talking was going to get him nowhere. Either way, Zane wasn't a man of many words. Instead, he activated his duel disk, hearing it whirring into action.

"Here's a deal Jaden. If I win, then you release that Duel Spirit!" he called, knowing that losing was likely to jarr Jaden out of whatever he was feeling.

Jaden raised his eyebrows. "Fine," he said. Then he grinned menacingly. "But if I win, I get your soul." Zane stared at Jaden in shock for a split second.

"Oh?" Jaden said mockingly. "Did I ruffle the Kaiser's feathers?"

Narrowing his eyes, Zane agreed. "Very well, a soul for a soul. Let us begin."

"Fine," said Jaden, his voice suddenly become icy. His duel disk activated as well. "Let us begin."

Barely as they drew their cards did Alexis, Chazz, Atticus, and Hassleberry burst into the basement.

"What's going on Zane?" asked Chazz. Then, he noticed Jaden, as his face slackened. "Oh."

"DUEL!"

—

And we done for Chapter 3. Such a long chapter, but I think it was relatively ok. Sorry for cliffhanger, but it would be impossible to fit a duel into this already long chapter.

There is an age-old saying that I just made up, Live and Die by the Reveiws. So reviews else I'll post chapters a day later than I usually would. GASP. THE HORROR.

Anyways, peace


	4. Jaden vs Zane

Ah. So lack of posts isn't healthy. Hmm. Maybe I should post more often… nah, I'm way too lazy to do that. Either way, I'm getting the followers so I don't rly care. Anyways, Last time on DRAGON BALL Z, Zane is ready to face off against the one and only… JADEN (SUPREME KING/HAOU) YUKI!

ooh, so apparently I'm a sucker for dub names, but I refuse to watch an anime where the main character is named Judai. Idk. But I know a lot of you come from the sub version, so imma just get the formalities done with really fast

jaden=judai

syrus=sho

alexis=asuka

zane=ryo

Hassleberry = I think it was tyranno kenzen

Fujiwara is probably still fujiwara

Chazz=manjoume (i happen to like this one better)

Finally, this entire chapter is basically dedicated to Knoctis00, who gave not one but TWO reviews, and all but forced me to actually start writing again with his highly intelligent "next chapter please." So TY Knoctis00 as well as anyone who supports me. 21 favs is not to be taken lightly

Also, I don't own GX or Dragon Ball Z, but I own the plot of this story

—

"Duel!"

Jaden remained expressionless as he drew his five cards, his gaze never leaving Zane's face. The latter put up a stone-cold front and drew, yet there was something in Zane's defensive posture, something off about him. It was strange for Zane, that was for sure. It wasn't fear, no, far from it, but there was something. Perhaps it was doubt, perhaps it was something else. Perhaps he was only remembering the graduation duel with Jaden.

But he didn't hesitate. "I summon Infernal Dragon in attack mode!" he cried.

(Infernal Dragon: (2000/0) If this card attacks, it is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard during the End Phase. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard from the field, you can Special Summon this card by Tributing 1 monster.)

Without missing a beat, he set two cards on his field, and ended his turn. The spectators watched with bated breaths. "He already lost his chance to play his Cyber Dragon," said Hassleberry, looking concerned. "Why would he want to go first?"

Chazz shook his head slowly and exhaled. "I think he has something he wants to prove. But what that is, I'm not sure yet."

Beside him, Alexis stood trembling, barely even noticing the duel. Her eyes were fixed onto the figure dressed in red, trying to discern exactly what he wanted. "Jaden," she whispered.

The figure in question turned his head and glanced at them. He gave a menacing grin. "I think we need to call the exterminators. It seems that a few mosquitoes have found their way into my lair."

Everyone staggered in shock, as if hit by a train. Sure, they had heard of Jaden's evils, heard of what he had become. But they never really thought that Jaden could be so -so not like himself. In all their memories, he was an energetic and positive person, filled without any hatred. But this…

"Snap out of it, Jaden!" Atticus called, the first to recover. "This isn't you, and you know it! Why are you being like this?" Of course, Atticus already knew the reason thanks to Kuriboh, but he wanted to prove a point.

Jaden only scoffed and turned back to the duel. "It's time we get this started," he said flatly. "I summon Clayman in defense mode." Then, a single set card appeared on his side of the field. "End turn."

Zane studied his hand. "I activate Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards at the cost of discarding two!"

"Next, I play Pot of Greed!"

Hassleberry looked confused. "Wait, what does that card do again?"

"It let's me draw two new cards!"

"Oh, okay. I forgot for a second."

Zane smirked at his new hand. "I play Polymerization, and fuse two Cyber Dragons from my hand that I drew from Pot of Greed to summon Cyber Twin Dragon!"

A silver dragon with two heads, gleaming with steel scales, emerged onto his side of the field, giving a metallic roar.

(Cyber Twin Dragon: (2800/2100) This card can attack twice during the same Battle Phase.)

"But that's not all," Zane said calmly. "I play Cybernetic Fusion Support! By paying half my lifepoints, I remove from play all fusion material monsters I used for this summon."

With that, two Cyber Dragons suddenly vanished from the grave. Suddenly, Zane groaned as his lifepoints dropped to 2000.

 _Pain. So much pain_. "Urgh," he muttered to himself.

A gasp emerged from the spectators. "Zane!" cried Alexis, who had snapped out of her stupor. "Your legs!"

Glancing down, Zane saw his lower body shimmering for a brief moment, becoming translucent, then vanish altogether. But he barely gave it a passing glance. There was no need to concern himself with anything but the duel. Turning his entire attention to the field, he knew that this was his opportunity to win.

"Now attack Clayman!" Zane shouted, voice finally showing emotion at the chance of victory.

Cyber Twin Dragon reared one of its heads, launching a bolt of pure, white energy towards the kneeling clay figure. But before it hit, a translucent wall materialized in front of Clayman, fizzling out the attack.

"Mirror Wall!" called Jaden. "A continuous trap card that halves the attack of any attacking monster!"

Zane's lifepoints dropped to 1900. He could see the darkness threatening to overwhelm his entire body, inching forward. Like a tsunami, held by only by his fragile lfiepoints.

"B-But that card is so strong!" said Atticus, awed. "That shouldn't be allowed!"

Chazz scoffed. "At least it wasn't Mirror Force."

Zane was forced to end his turn, having exhausted his resources.

After drawing, Jaden chose to pay the 2000 lifepoints necessary to maintain his mirror wall. Even he winced as darkness began to overtake him as well. Then, a dark smile danced on his lips, matching the card he had drawn.

"I play Dark Fusion to summon Lightning Golem (2400/1500)!"

No one had actually seen Jaden duel with his Darkness deck, and were, unsurprisingly, greeted with horror when they saw Clayman and Sparkman fuse together to form a towering fiend, crackling with black electricity.

"Once per turn, I can target and destroy one monster on your field! And I choose Infernal Dragon!" Unfortunately for Zane, none of his backrow could defend against this monster. Infernal Dragon gave a roar of pain after a lightning bolt struck its center dead on, and shattered into a flurry of light shards.

Lightning Golem continued its offense, about to destroy Cyber Twin Dragon, its attack still reduced by Mirror Wall.

Before the lightning bolt reached it though, Twin Dragon vanished into thing air, and was replaced by two Cyber Dragons (Atk: 2100).

"Dimension Explosion!" Zane called, trying to put on an air of confidence. "It sends my fusion monster back to the Extra Deck, and both players special summon as many monsters removed from play as they can!"

For the first time in the duel, Jaden looked impressed. "Fine. But Lightning Golem still destroys one of your dragons!"

With that, Lightning Golem shot a beam of dark energy at the leftmost Cyber Dragon, instantly vaporizing it. Zane's lifepoints took a hit, dropping him down to a mere 1600. A groan escaped his lips. This was nothing like the underground duels. It was far more pain-inducing than mere shock collars, and infinitely times more real. This wasn't some cheap entertainment. This was a _shadow game._

Darkness had already risen up to his stomach, and he suddenly felt like something had invaded his lungs. Each breath took energy, and his breathing became ragged and painful, like a drowning man taking his last gulps of air.

Jaden set two more cards, then ended his turn.

Zane couldn't help it, he hated himself for it, but the extra effort to even breath forced him into a kneeling position. He was weak, he didn't deserve to live, as he remained in bowed to the darkness before him. He clutched his chest, trying to gain air.

Jaden only watched with amusement. "Hmm? The Kaiser kneeling to me? What a twist." He paused for a moment, before smirking. "Do you think that boy, what was his name? ah, that's right, Syrus, felt the same way as you?"

Zane's head flicked up sharply, face contorted with emotion. "What did you say?" he hissed, glaring at Jaden. "Where is Syrus?"

His smile only grew wider. "I don't really know, actually. Maybe you'll find out when I send you to the same place."

On the sidelines, disbelief, sadness, anger, regret, hopelessness, all pervaded their hearts. Even Chazz wasn't thinking. "No way," he muttered. "There's no way that this is…" He couldn't finish the sentence. HIs hands clenched the metal railing, its uneven edges digging into his palm.

Tears stained Alexis' face. _It just can't be! There's no way…_ "JADEN! Please… stop!" she screamed, almost hysterical. She wasn't alone. Her expression and tears were mirrored in the faces of everyone watching.

Hearing her voice, Jaden's head flicked towards their direction. His stony eyes seemed to melt for a split second -was it recognition? fear? hope? -before hardening back into its cold gaze again.

Still kneeling, Zane couldn't maintain his composure any longer. His face contorted into a snarl and he forced himself into standing position. Even from a distance, one could tell that it was taking a lot of energy from him.

Gasping, Zane called out. "I know you're in there somewhere Jaden, and I intend to pull you out of whatever you're feeling. I play Cyberdark Horn!"

(Cyberdark Horn: (800/800) When this card is Normal Summoned, select 1 Level 4 or lower Dragon-Type monster in the Graveyard and equip it to this card. This card gains ATK equal to the equipped card's ATK. This card inflicts piercing Battle Damage. If this card would be destroyed by battle, the equipped monster is destroyed instead.)

"Next, I equip it with Cyber Dragon, bringing its attack to 2900!" However, due to Mirror Wall's effect, he couldn't attack else his monster would lose half its attack points, and he set one card before ending his turn.

Jaden was forced to destroy his own Mirror Wall, but seeing his new card made him smirk. _Took you long enough,_ he thought.

A metallic sounding voice answered, with a slight tinge of laughter. _Sorry. Traffic was a killer. Malicious Fiend really doesn't know how to share the road._

"I play sheep tokens, allowing me to summon two 0/0 tokens. Next, I sacrifice them both to summon Yubel!" A towering fiend with pale skin and wings rose up. If it weren't for the third eye and mascara, one might have called her beautiful. Zane sucked In a breath. This was the demon that had possessed Jesse, that had "killed" him. It was the reason that they had been brought into the Duel World.

But Zane no longer felt pain or fear. What replaced those emotions was pure anger. If this monster needed to be killed, then he would do it at all costs. He had failed so many times in the past, unable to eliminate the threat before his friends, relying on others to save him. This time, he would not fail.

"Yubel, huh," muttered Hassleberry, extremely nervous. He, like everyone else, had heard Kuriboh's story through Alexis. Yubel clearly was not an ally.

"Zero attack?" taunted Zane. "That's nothing." But he wasn't an idiot either. He knew that behind Yubel's nonexistent attack existed a powerful effect. Only what that was…

Jaden ignored the remark and continued with his play. "Lucky for you, I have to play Yubel in defense position, thanks to the sheep's effect." But that didn't seem to faze him at all. "I play O-Oversoul, allowing me to special summon Clayman back onto the field in defense position. Then, I activate Lightning Golem's effect, destroying Cyberdark Horn!"

However, a glowing trap card -the one that Zane had just set -appeared on the field. "Divine Wrath! By discarding a card, I can negate your monster effect and destroy it!" With that, Lightning Golem was gone in a burst of light.

Jaden narrowed his eyes, his expression giving away none of his inner feelings. "Very well, I end my turn. I tribute Clayman to keep Yubel alive."

As Zane drew, Jaden suddenly sensed something. A dark presence, familiar yet foreign. _Hmmm_ , he thought to himself. _Interesting_.

"Hey Yubel," he called, softly enough so the others wouldn't hear. "Do you sense it as well?" Without turning back, he saw her give a brief nod.

Whatever. I'll find out after this duel. He was honestly quite annoyed. Jaden had thought that Honesty was behind the darkness, and seeing that the creature was still collapsed onto the ground, there had to be something else. He had been wrong, and that didn't please him one bit. Additionally, it had however briefly interrupted the duel.

But he only shrugged it off, snapping out of his thoughts to see Zane playing a facedown and ending his turn.

"Not attacking, huh Kaiser?" taunted Jaden. "Scared?" He didn't expect a response, nor did he get one. Zane was playing it safe, making sure that he didn't fall for some trick. Out of all his opponents, Zane was the one Jaden had respected the most. He remembered when Zane had joined the Underground dueling, desperate for power. Power-hungry. Now that, Jaden could understand.

So he wasn't really surprised when Zane didn't attack, being cautious. He wasn't the type of person who would rush headlong into a fight. Unlike…

As a memory surfaced, Jaden grimaced and forced it back down. "Argh," he muttered, clutching his head. Now was not the time for distracting thoughts.

After focusing on the duel, Jaden realized two important pieces of information. One, that the facedowns that Zane had placed at the beginning of the Duel didn't stop monster attacks. This was evident when Lightning Golem had attacked Cyber Dragon without resistance.

Secondly, that the last facedown Zane had placed was meant to stop any aggressive plays from Jaden, as well as detect the special effect of Yubel. Which meant…

He grinned. The duel was as good as finished. "I play Cosmic Cyclone, banishing your last facedown! In return, I pay 1000 lifepoints!" he called triumphantly. With that, he saw Curse of Anubis disappearing from play. His instincts didn't lie. Yubel crashed into Cyberdark Horn, and her effect dealt plenty of damage to Zane, more than enough to bring him to the ground, motionless.

Atticus gasped as he saw that only a dim, white orb remained where Zane once stood. "No way," he breathed. Beside him, Chazz and Hassleberry were white faced and wide-eyed. To have Zane defeated so easily…

"Jaden, STOP, PLEASE!" Alexis screamed, as she saw Yubel inching towards the sphere, a look of pure anticipation in her eyes. There was a slight hesitation before Jaden motioned for her to continue.

Suddenly, he flung himself backwards before a shadow nearly impaled him. The shadows around the room began to melt, hissing as they combined into a single form in front of Jaden.

Growling, Jaden glared at the form which slowly materialized into a smirking man wearing sunglasses. It rushed towards him, a dagger in hand. Thinking fast, Jaden drew Neos while Yubel rushed to intercept the attack. But it wasn't fast enough.

There was no time to react, no time to defend himself, no time to flee. But Jaden forced himself to stand tall. There was no way he was going to cower down to this man during the last few seconds of his life.

 _You know, death wouldn't be unwelcome._ He gave an internal, humorless laugh, awaiting his fate.

As he stared down death, a few cards whizzed by his face from behind him, embedding into the figure, forcing him to drop his knife. Snarling, the figure withdrew, tending its wounds. Jaden sighed, partly out of relief, partly because the owner of those cards was the last person he wanted to see.

"Axel," he said in a flat tone. He didn't need to turn to see the man reload his card/gun, firing off a few more shots. However, this time, he was prepared, dodging and leaping through Jaden, too slow to dodge the onslaught of shadows.

As the mysterious figure passed through him, Jaden suddenly felt a blanket pass over his mind, darkness completely enveloping him. His senses grew dull, and his vision completely blacked.

—

Deep in his consciousness, Jaden felt a dark force tugging at him further into the darkness. However, this darkness was unlike the darkness that he had embraced, the one that he had given his mind and body to. This darkness felt dirty and grimy, so different from the pureness that he had previously experienced.

Although Jaden resisted the pull, he knew that he alone wasn't strong enough. Although he held on, he too would be dragged into the depths of whatever the darkness had in store for him.

 _But suddenly, he felt another hand holding his own, guiding him, giving him the strength he needed. The grip of darkness slowly loosened, and released Jaden._ Don't think you've gotten away so easily, came a monotone, hissing voice, as if thousands of souls were speaking at once. _We'll come back, and when we do, we'll take you with us._

—

Zane opened his eyes to a very familiar audience. "Ah," he remarked dryly. "I'm alive."

A woman spoke up, her tone icy, yet at the same time, soft. "It seems so. Although you have much explaining to do."

He smiled without any humor, and spoke in a slightly sarcastic tone. "Of course, Adelina, Queen of the Underworld."

—

Woah, what the heck, how did Zane get back into the Underworld? And what's happening to Jaden? Is he gonna go back to the real world? Honestly, I'm writing this story chapter by chapter and also depending on my mood, so I'm as curious as you are. Honestly, I have no plan. The underworld thing was a whim that I came up with last minute. Bite me.

Chapter End time. Also, POLL TIME! (totally not for reviews). WHO WANTS AN OC THAT DOESNT ABSOLUTELY DECIMATE THE PLOT (besides Adelina, she's not important)? This story is mainly for my writing skillz, so I wanted to include an OC as practice, but didn't wanna tilt too many people

Also, I'm sure you noticed my rants about some cards (PoG, Mirror force) in the story. Sorry. Just feeling really tilted by those. Also, it wasn't too bad of humor right?


	5. A Deal

**And I'm back after a literal 3 month break. I know, I'm insane. Sorry. I was busy please don't hurt me. Also, I was writing for another account in SAO. Mainly, I thought this story was garbage for a long time. Then I reread it and was like, maybe it wasn't that bad after all. I think the main problem I have is that I both hate and suck at writing duels. It just feels so boring to read and write, since there aren't any new developments in character or plot. It's like writing an entire fight scene in another anime. So in the future, there will be less duels. But the duels that we have will be way more intense.**

 **This chapter is mainly to help me get back into the swing of things. As always, please tell me what you like and dislike. Thanks, and happy reading!**

Jaden found himself surrounded by a dark, churning ocean. The sky was ink black, blotting out any indications of sun. Thousands of voices rose up from the depths, hissing his name. _Jaden….Jaden._ He stood on a rock that protruded from the ocean somehow, the only land in sight. The voices grew louder and louder, threatening to overpower his sanity. He wanted to shout, scream at them. Tell them to shut up. He had the power, not them. But somehow, his voice wasn't working.

The ocean bubbled furiously as the voices grew more agitated. The water began to rise as Jaden felt darkness began to overtake him once more. Soon, the rock that he stood on was no more, enveloped by the dark liquid. The sea churned angrily as it rose past his ankles.

 _This is a dream,_ he told himself. Yet even with that knowledge, he began to panic as he felt the darkness suffocating him. The water was at his chin now as he could hardly keep himself afloat. By this point, he had lost the rock and was treading water. Something in the depths was trying to drag him down as what felt like weights attached to his legs.

Growling, he struggled to escape to no avail. The waters rose above his head and darkness prevailed once more.

Jaden woke to the sound of voices, all blending with each other so that Jaden couldn't make out any words. He was lying on top of something soft...a bed? Where was he? What had happened? Blearily, he blinked open his eyes before he was forced to close them again from the blinding light. The voices continued to buzz like angry gnats around him. His limbs felt as though made of lead, and his arms and legs burned from exertion. _Tired…_

Growling slightly, he forced open his eyes ignoring the burning sensation from the brightness. Then he forced himself up despite the protest of his hurting body. The source of the light was from a window, positioned to the right of his bed. From his surroundings, it seemed that he was in some sort of hospital. Jaden rubbed his temple to clear his pounding headache. With remarkable clarity, the events from before flooded into him again.

He felt the familiar feeling of anger begin to boil again. Everything had been perfectly planned. Not a single detail had been left out. And yet he had failed to exact his revenge. Zane still lived -he was sure of it. Yubel hadn't consumed his soul.

 _I remember the man in black. Axel defeated him and then I passed out._ Jaden's face contorted when he remembered his moment of weakness. _But then, why am I here?_

Suddenly, he noticed the voices had stopped. He turned slightly, and his eyes widened involuntarily. Alexis, Atticus, and Chazz were sitting in the room and staring, mouths slightly agape, straight at him.

Zane almost forgot how much he hated the Underworld. It was dark, filled with twisting tunnels that were impossible to navigate, and most importantly, it _smelled._ His nose twitched as the scent of dead meat and earth wafted into his nostrils. Unfortunately, those were the least of his troubles. The main issue was currently staring right at him, in the form of Adelina, the self-proclaimed "Queen of the Underworld." Self-centered brat.

Their current meeting was taking place in a large, underground chamber that featured several stalagmites. Groups of people stood huddled a distance away, pointing at him and whispering. Some seemed delighted, but Zane spotted expressions of fear and anxiety.

"Didn't think I'd be seeing you again, Zane Truesdale." The woman spoke with a playful smirk on her face, but anyone who had even heard about her knew that she was dead serious. "I recall saying that if I ever saw you again, you'd be put to death, no questions asked."

Zane studied the woman again. She had hardly changed the last time that he had seen her. Her skin was a pale white, probably a side effect from never seeing the sun. Her cheeks and eyes were gaunt and hollow as if she hadn't eaten in quite a long time. The rest of her looked like a skeleton -pale, brittle arms and shrunken legs. She wore no makeup. Yet despite this, she somehow retained a look of utter beauty and power, dominating the rest of the figures in the room. Adelina, who was called many things, from "Ice Queen" to "The Reaper," was not to be messed with.

"Believe me," he said, adopting a tone far more arrogant than he felt. "If it were up to be, I would not have returned either." Which happened to be true. He honestly had no idea how he had gotten here. His memory was hazy, but he remembered some creature with more eyes than it should have had.

The Queen frowned. "Very well. Seeing the, ah, _unusual_ circumstances, I will refrain from killing you temporarily. But," she said, as she raised a pale finger into the air, "you will have to explain yourself before I judge on your final fate. Is this matter clear?" Zane bowed his head. Honestly, this was far more than he bargained for. This day was just getting better and better.

To make an understatement, it had been a rough night for Alexis. She had learned that Jaden was under the influence of darkness, seen Jaden rip Zane's soul from his body, and saw a black shadow rip through Jaden and force him unconscious. And through all that time, she had been completely useless. She could do nothing but watch her friends get hurt. And she couldn't forgive herself for that.

There was a long argument on what to do with Jaden. Everyone was conflicted on how to best resolve the situation. Should they put him in custody and burn his deck? Or just let him wake up and hope that he would get better? Eventually, they settled on moving Jaden's unconscious body to the hospital room in Duel Academy and gave his cards to Alexis. She didn't really want to have them, but then again, no one really wanted to have cards tainted with darkness, so she took the responsibility of doing so. After all, destroying the cards was out of question. A dueler's deck became ingrained in his soul, so by destroying a deck, one was destroying another's soul.

Alexis glanced miserably at the corrupted cards in her hand. If these cards reflected Jaden's soul, did that mean that he had forever turned to darkness? Shaking her head, she pushed the thoughts out of her mind. _No, there has to be a way to get him back. I just_ know _it._

Beside her, Chazz and Atticus were talking in hushed tones, but Alexis didn't mind them. There was already to much on her mind. For the hundredth time, she glanced at Jaden's motionless figure lying on the bed. Without warning, his body would jerk violently from time to time as if experiencing a nightmare. _You're useless,_ a small voice in her head whispered to her. _You can't even help your best friend. All you do is sit around praying for some miracle to happ-_

"I know!" she screamed, slamming her fist down onto the table where she sat. "You think I don't know?" She realized that the boys were giving her worried looks, and her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"Sorry," she muttered. "Thinking out loud, don't mind me." _Idiot,_ she reprimanded herself.

Atticus spoke in a concerned manner. "Are you sure you're oka-" but was interrupted with a low growl that came from-

-Jaden's bed. All three students leapt to their feet stared at the bed, the covers shifting. Alexis had seen quite a bit in her lifetime, from graveyard ghosts to portals to another dimension. But nothing even came close to the moment when Jaden woke and stared straight at them with cold, golden eyes.

 **And that's the end of the chapter! See you next week!**

 **Kidding kidding, just thought it'd be funny to do that to you guys. Chapter continues below.**

The tension was so thick that Alexis thought she could grab Axel's cardgun and cut straight through it. She felt Chazz and Atticus shrink slightly back in fear. She didn't blame them. She would have done the same, if she hadn't been completely paralyzed. Jaden's gaze didn't waver as the two golden orbs seemed to pierce straight through them. The standoff continued for what seemed like an eternity.

Jaden was physically weak, weaker than she had ever seen him before. So why did it feel like he was the most powerful man in the world at that moment?

Without warning, Jaden gave a cold chuckle, breaking the silence. "And to what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked, as if completely indifferent towards the three. But underneath that mask of apathy, Alexis could tell that there was something else. _Pain._ Pain so vast and so great that no mask, however perfect, could obscure it. And from that, she knew that Jaden was not completely lost yet. That he could be saved.

Vaguely, Alexis could remember a conversation that she had had with the others on what to say to Jaden when he woke. But her muscles felt numb, her lips refused to move, and her voice didn't work. All she could do was gaze on, as if Jaden's unwavering eyes were holding her in place.

 _Stop it!_ she cried at herself. _Body, MOVE!_ And with that, she felt life slowly returning to herself, feeling control of her body once more.

" _Jaden._ " she uttered in a hoarse voice. He gave her an amused look.

"Oh? So the insects speak?"

Alexis felt like Jaden had struck her, but she continued to talk. "Why?" she rasped. "Why are you doing this?"

Any trace of humor vanished from his voice. It grew narrow and sharp, cutting through the air. "Why you ask? I think you know the answer."

Alexis shook her head numbly, her lips refusing to make words again. What did she know?

"You can top pretending," he spat at them, voice icy cold. "Pretending to be my friend and then abandoning me? Did you think I wouldn't figure out?"

Alexis stared at Jaden in shock. Did he really think that she had pretended to be his friend all this time? She felt tears threatening to form. Beside her, she heard a sharp intake of breath. "Jaden, we didn't pretend, we really-"

The icy cold voice cut her off harshly. "But I suppose I must thank you for that. For now I see that there is no such thing as "friendship," there is only power. And those too weak to seek it. You've allowed me to see the truth."

"No, Jaden, you don't understand," Alexis breathed. "We always were your friends. We were never pretending."

"Oh I understand everything now," Jaden said with a cruel smirk. "And I have no need for people like you anymore." He made the motion to stand, but was still too weak to do so, and collapsed onto the ground breathing heavily.

Forgetting for a moment that Jaden was evil, the three friends instinctively ran to help him up before being stopped by his sharp voice. "Back off!" he barked. Alexis gave a worried glance at him before she, Chazz, and Atticus kept their distance.

Seeming to use all his strength, Jaden grabbed the bedpost and forced himself into standing position.

Atticus sighed, before taking a step forward. "Look, Jaden, we didn't bring you here to exchange pleasantries. We came to make a deal."

Jaden raised an eyebrow, glaring suspiciously at Atticus. "What could I possibly want from you?" he growled. But he didn't reject the offer either, giving Alexis some hope.

She steadied her voice, hoping to sound more confident than she felt. She hoped her resolve wouldn't crumble too quickly. "This," she said, stepping forward and holding up Jaden's deck. His eyes widened the moment he saw it, then narrowed.

"Give it to me!" he said in a threatening voice that made Alexis want to cower and do whatever he asked. But she remained strong.

Or at least she hoped her voice did. She shook her head. "This is part of the deal. If you agree, then we give you you're deck back. If not, we keep it." A vein bulged on Jaden's forehead. " _Including_ Yubel." Alexis added for emphasis.

Jaden looked as if he wanted to reach out and strangle her right there and then, his face contorted more violently than ever. Alexis knew that what they were doing was remarkably cruel. She knew that Yubel was extremely close to Jaden and that his deck meant everything to him. But it had to be done. For not only their sake, but for Jaden's sake as well.

"Fine," Jaden ground out through gritted teeth. "What do you want from me?" It physically pained Alexis to see Jaden suffer through so much mental abuse, but she restrained herself. _It's for his own good,_ she repeated to herself over and over. But that didn't help the fact that they were blackmailing their own friend.

Atticus' voice interrupted her thoughts. "We need your help defeating that shadow. Axel managed to stall it, but it escaped and will be back for more. It's a power far stronger than any of us have ever faced before, and we need all the help we can get." Alexis could tell that Atticus was trying to remain impassive, but she detected a slight quiver in his voice.

Jaden's face betrayed no emotion as he chewed on those words. "How do you know I won't just agree then get my deck and leave?" he finally replied, some of the edge gone from his voice replaced with suspicion.

Alexis took a deep breath and said spoke thinking, letting her emotions guide her. "Jaden, I know you've changed but I know that somewhere down there, you still exist. We trust you Jaden. _I_ trust you. You've always been by our side, and -and we will always be by yours." Was she crying? She couldn't tell. "I know you won't break your promise, Jaden."

He stared at her with narrow eyes for a few moments, as if trying to decipher her. "I know not of the Jaden you speak of," he said, but sounded more unsure of himself this time. A few more moments of silence passed. "Fine, I'll take up your offer and help you defeat whatever that creature was. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Alexis' face lit up with delight. Her speech had worked!

"But," Jaden said, "We remain allies, nothing more nothing less. And after this is over, don't expect me to spare your souls for Yubel."

Three gulps followed his statement, but they agreed quickly before Jaden changed his mind.

Jaden gazed out the window at the night sky, Yubel perched beside him. Alexis, Chazz, and Atticus had left him in the hospital bed once they had agreed to disagree. And Jaden was feeling particularly annoyed.

"Couldn't they at least have not trusted me so wholeheartedly?" Jaden asked, peeved. "They didn't even put a guard outside my door or something."

Yubel gave a quiet chuckle, but didn't say anything.

"Like, I could just walk out now and they would never know! God this is frustrating!" he shouted, throwing his hands up into the air.

"But you aren't, are you?" Yubel replied softly.

Jaden buried his head into his arms. "I don't know what's wrong with me, Yubel! Please don't be mad, but I feel like I can't break this promise. I don't know why!"

Yubel thought of what the girl had said to her. Maybe, just maybe, the girl might have been right. "I think you made the right decision," she said softly, almost to herself.

Alexis lay in bed as she thought of Yubel. _Maybe she isn't so bad after all,_ she thought to herself.

 **And that really concludes our chapter. It's a bit short, I'm sorry. Maybe it declined in quality as well, but I blame that on the break. Anyways, I rewatched the anime and some fanfics, and grew liking to Yubel. I don't know why. She just doesn't strike me as particularly evil you know? Don't worry Jalexis (is that the ship name?) is still a thing for sure.**

 **Anyways, something clearly went down between Yubel and Alexis. All will be revealed next chapter, which I haven't gotten around to yet. Remember, all this stuff is currently being made off the top of my head as I go along. Which means, each chapter is written without a plan for the future. Each chapter is subject to change on my whim. Ah the beauty of procrastination.**

 **By the way, fun fact, the word procrastinate comes from the latin word "cras," meaning tomorrow and "pro," roughly translating into "for." So it means "for tomorrow." Heh.**


	6. Fishing

**You know what type of writer they call me? Consistent. As I always post on time. Anyways, I just read some SICK yugioh fanfic, and now I'm all hyped again. Thanks to "State of the Meta."**

 **Remember what I said about Jalexis comfirmed. Yeah about that. Uh, I have decided (temporarily) to put that on hold for a sec. Not sure who ends up with who right now. It'd just ruin the story if I confirmed stuff. I just know that someone ends up with someone, you get what I'm saying?**

 **Finally, anyone feel like this story is WAYY too angsty for its own good? I mean, don't get me wrong, sarcastic generic OP self-inserts are far worse (shots fired), but angsty-ness reaches a certain level where it just becomes repetitive and BORING. So less angsty-ness, I promise. More interesting stuff. Ooh, and you know what would be nice in GX fanfic?**

 **Duels.**

 **I'm a genius**

It definitely wasn't the first time in life that Chazz was depressed about his life. Sure, his brothers had been a pain, and dying kind of sucked, and even seeing his arch nemesis, Jaden, becoming corrupted was pure torture. But nothing could have prepared him for what was currently staring him right in the nose.

It had been a regular morning, as regular as life on Duel Island could get. Chazz was shocked that Jaden had even accepted the deal with them the night before. And contrary to his suspicions, the former Slifer hadn't fled or burned the entire Duel Academy while left unattended.

Currently, Chazz was uneasy for multiple reasons, not in the least because he was allying with a king of darkness to fight darkness, but he pushed those emotions away for the time being. Instead, he occupied himself by sorting through his deck, theory crafting new ways he could push out his Armed Dragon even faster.

Lost in thought, he didn't notice until too late that he was nose to nose with a flyer nailed onto the bulletin board, stating, in bright, hot pink text, " **Academy Dance**." Which only reminded him of Alexis Rhodes.

To say the least, his endeavors with her had not been fruitful. His first declaration of love to her, if he recalled correctly, had resulted in the near destruction of the entire island and a madman on the brink of obtaining immeasurable power. Following, he had been rejected time and time again, with the excuse that dueling was her only love.

Chazz scoffed out loud thinking about it. Any fool who paid half a mind's attention could tell that Alexis was in love with Jaden. From her blushes whenever Jaden had brushed by her during lunch, or the looks she had shot him in class when she thought no one was looking.

Admittedly, no one _had_ been looking -except for Chazz. Most of the time, if he wasn't looking at his cards, he was looking at Alexis. A bit stalker-ish, but all for the sake of unrequited love. Which mitigated the creepiness. He hoped.

Even when Jaden had shifted personalities into a cold, calculating figure, Alexis was the only one who wholly trusted him. The others all held varying degrees of distrust towards Jaden, all but Alexis. She had single handedly convinced the rest to strike a deal with Jaden instead of imprisoning him as well as leave him alone for the night.

Which meant that she had also been the most hurt when Jaden had snapped and pushed them away in the hospital. Jaden had hurt Alexis badly. Which meant that Chazz wouldn't forgive him, no matter what happened. Ever.

And there he was drifting into thought again. He silently berated himself for being so aloof and uncharacteristic, knowing that he had an appearance to maintain. Unfortunately, that brought him back to his current predicament: he had no girlfriend. Which meant that Chazz Princeton, the greatest duelist of all time, had no one to bring to a school dance.

Between dying and this, his tattered ego would not survive for very long.

Chazz created a mental list of all the potential girls he could ask to the dance; Jasmine, too flighty; Mindy, too dumb; Blair, well, Chazz definitely wasn't a lolicon; Syrus, still MIA…

Which left only Alexis Rhodes.

 _Chazz Princeton_ , came a metallic voice from behind him. Chazz whipped around only to find himself staring at a woman dressed in white and red, carrying half a nunchuck, with the other half ending in a paper fan. That wasn't the shocker though. The real surprise came from the fact that she was hovering two feet in the air.

Chazz gulped, seeing the menacing look on her face. _Wait a second, is that Cyber Angel Benten?_ he wondered in astonishment. Clearly, it belonged to Alexis, as she was the only one who used Cyber Angels on the island. But since when did Alexis Rhodes have a duel spirit?

Benten watched him coldly, awaiting a response. "Uh, hi Benten." Being confronted in such a sudden way had unfortunately taken away Chazz's ability to speak cohesively. "Um, just out of curiosity, what are you doing here?"

 _Miss Alexis Rhodes requires your presence,_ Benten intoned, ignoring Ojama Yellow's desperate attempts to flirt with her. At the moment, the ojama had pressed his face just inches away from Benten's, batting his eyelashes in what could be considered "flirtatiously." Mostly though, it was just creepy.

To Benten's credit, she stared straight through the three foot tall lewd figure as if he were invisible, maintaining a stoic expression as drool began forming on the corner of Ojama Yellow's wide grin.

Chazz also did his best to ignore his own duel spirit, with some success. "Do you know why she's asking for me?" he asked, addressing Benten.

 _Negative. However, Miss Alexis Rhodes's summons are of a private matter, thus secrecy is greatly appreciated._ Chazz almost laughed. Bastion had _nothing_ on Benten's vocabulary.

"Got it. I'll go immediately." He turned and started walking, before realizing that he had no idea where he was going and froze. "Pardon me, but you don't happen to know where Alexis is do you?"

 _She was last in the forest near the Slifer dormitories when she asked me to find you,_ Benten replied, before flying away, most likely to find Alexis.

Too many thoughts were whirring in Chazz's mind as he quickly made his way to the indicated location. Alexis apparently had a duel spirit now, and it was pretty much implied that she could see them. But how?

"Any ideas?" he asked his Ojamas as he kicked a small pebble in the path absently.

 _No sir!_ Yellow responded in a happy manner. _But does it matter? That chick is_ hot. Green and Black nodded in the affirmative.

Chazz groaned and rubbed his temples. What a wonderful day this had been. Not only that, but if Alexis really could see other duel spirits, she'd see the Ojamas. Not the greatest first impression to be sure.

After around the tenth refrain of "Here we Go Around the Mulberry Bush" by the Ojamas, Chazz finally snapped.

"You guys are about the most annoying creatures on the planet, did you know that?" he muttered, glimpsing the signature red, dilapidated Slifer dormitory in the distance. The Ojamas merely cackled infuriatingly and saluted.

But Chazz kept wondering what exactly was so urgent that he needed to be "summoned," in the words of Benten. He prayed fervently that it wasn't because the darkness was back. Maybe Alexis wanted to ask him out to the dance?

 _Haha, in your dreams boss!_ Ojama Black screeched. Chazz sighed. Thinking out loud was a bad habit he would need to kick at some point.

Five minutes later, Chazz stood outside the entrance to Jaden's old home, and he found himself thinking of the boy. Not the Supreme King, or whoever the heck he was now, but Jaden Yuki. Who never cared about winning or losing, always about having fun. Who was always hopeful even if there was no hope left. Who had taught Chazz what it really meant to be a duelist. Who had given Chazz the strength to stand against his brothers.

The sight of Jaden's previous abode was enough even to make the Ojamas fall silent.

No matter how hard he tried to maintain an unexpressive mask at all times, Chazz felt tears forming at the corners of his eyes and he hastily wiped them away.

"So those are your duel spirits, huh?" came a soft voice from behind him. It seemed that people really wanted to sneak up on him today for some reason. This time though, Chazz didn't need to turn around to know that it was Alexis speaking.

"Yeah," he mumbled, not looking at her. He paused, before asking, "When did you find out? That you could see duel spirits, I mean."

Alexis sighed, apparently reliving a memory. "It's a long story that involves a crazy woman and a deck of cards." Chazz didn't press her. When it became clear that she wasn't going to continue, he cleared his throat politely.

"I believe you called me here?"

He heard Alexis swear from behind uncharacteristically. "Oh god I totally forgot!" she said, sounding frantic. "I kinda got lost in the moment. Jaden's missing from the hospital!"

It took a total of three seconds for Chazz to react properly to that sentence. During the first second, his brain processed the words. During the second second, he realized what that implied. And then his legs became so weak that he almost fell to the ground.

"What."

Sure, Chazz had suspected that this sort of thing might happen. For gods sake they had trusted the _King of Darkness_. That was the equivalent of making a deal with the devil! But somewhere in his heart, deep down in the farthest recesses, Chazz had held a hope that maybe Jaden would come back. That he would still be the outgoing, kind person that had charmed his way into everyone's hearts.

 _Maybe,_ he had thought. _Maybe there is still a chance._ Unfortunately, it seemed that they had been proven wrong.

"I checked his old room," Alexis said, clearly trying to suppress the emotion in her voice. "Some stuff's been moved, which means that he came back…" Chazz got the feeling Alexis wasn't talking about Syrus.

"That's why I was searching here, since I thought he might be nearby. No such luck though."

Chazz's gaze wandered towards the forest. "Have you notified the others?"

Alexis sighed. "No. Zane got caught in some incident involving a Cyber Style deck, and Atticus is apparently nowhere to be found. I guess I'll have to settle with you than," she joked, trying to life the mood.

He chuckled. "Alright then. Let's go find our Slifer slacker, shall we?"

And with that, they headed into the forest.

They decided to split up to cover more ground, but ultimately their search was fruitless. No signs of Jaden could be found, not even a single footprint. Chazz lost track of time as he wandered across swathes of trees and undergrowth, but could not find a single clue that might get them closer to locating Jaden. Eventually, the sun began to recede behind the trees, only streaks of red and orange illuminating the way.

Leaves crunched under his shoes as he walked. "Any signs guys?" he asked his Ojamas.

 _Nossir,_ they said sadly, hanging their heads.

A distance away, Benten returned to Alexis, indicating that Jaden was yet to be found, to which Alexis only huffed in annoyance.

"It's just so frustrating!" she finally burst out after another five minutes of hopeless search. "I thought that maybe he really had changed a little since he came back. But…" her voice trailed off. Benten watched impassively, floating alongside Alexis, but even in her neutral expression there was a tiny flicker of emotion.

But like any good anime, just when all hope seemed lost, the trees suddenly gave way to a massive cliff that overlooked an ocean, stretching on for as far as they eye could see. And slouching precariously close to the cliff's edge, lazily grasping a fishing pole currently cast out to sea, his back facing her, was none other than Jaden Yuki.

He seemed so lackadaisical sitting there, an average schoolboy who didn't have any darkness or secrets, fishing without a care in the world. For a moment, Alexis completely forgot that it was the Supreme King. She wanted to call out towards Jaden, maybe challenge him to a friendly duel. And then Alexis saw Yubel in her human form, snuggled close to Jaden, eyes closed, and snapped back into reality.

It was Jaden in his most vulnerable state. Alexis knew that she had caught him in a very private moment, and tried to move away before she was discovered.

"I know you're there," came Jaden's voice, surprisingly neutral. "No use in hiding." Alexis cast Benten a look, but the duel spirit merely shrugged as if to say, _not much we can do about it._

Alexis stepped past broken logs onto the cliff, a few feet away from Jaden. A few awkward moments of silence passed between them. Jaden was focused intently on his fishing line, apparently engrossed in the activity.

"Did you catch anything?" asked Alexis softly, not quite sure if breaking the ice was possible at the current moment.

"Some, but I just release them when I do," came his response. Alexis blinked, taken aback by his laid back tone.

"I see." She'd expected Jaden to be angry, or at the very least, severely annoyed, but if anything, it was the opposite. A hint of a smile played on her lips. Here she was talking with the King of Darkness about fishing.

The silence that stretched on between them didn't feel so awkward anymore, although it was far from comfortable. In her sleep, Yubel stirred but didn't wake, mumbling something about how disgusting fried shrimp was.

It was still strange to see Yubel in her human form. Her wings and third eye were notably absent, her skin less tan. Her hands ended in fingers, not claws, though her fingernails seemed suspiciously long and sharp. The disgusting makeup that she previously wore was gone, though some traces of black still remained around her eyes and her hair was still dyed halfway blue. She looked… _pretty?_

Jaden turned and saw Alexis staring. "Yubel tells me that you guys had a long talk, though she didn't elaborate on much."

Alexis nodded mutely. Apparently not willing to pry, Jaden shrugged and turned back to fishing.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you," Alexis said, casting her eyes downward. "You just disappeared, so we just thought that…"

Jaden finished for her. "That I ran away after promising I wouldn't."

Alexis flushed. "No! I mean, if you put it like that yeah, but-"

Both fell silent for a moment. Surprisingly, it was Jaden who picked up the conversation. "I don't blame you. Even I'm still not sure why I didn't run away. It's kind of strange." He paused. "I was going to go back you know. I just wanted to get some fresh air and get away from people for a while."

Alexis nodded and twisted her hands together, feeling incredibly embarrassed for not trusting her friend. Just like in that duel in the Dark World where she had said those cruel things she hadn't meant, where Jaden had turned to darkness.

"Um, Jaden, I'm sorry," Alexis said, fidgeting.

"Just don't go barging in like this again," he muttered.

"No, I don't mean about this whole thing. Well, I am sorry about this, but it isn't what I was talking about," she fumbled, unable to control the flood of words pouring out of her mouth. "I mean about in the dark world. For saying those things to you."

Jaden sat rigidly, not making a sound. His knuckles grew white from clutching the fishing rod so tightly.

Alexis continued speaking. "I know you probably won't forgive me for saying those things. I don't blame you. I probably would be angry at myself too. I _am_ angry at myself for saying those things."

She took tentative steps towards the cliff edge, to where Jaden was sitting. "But I really am sorry, Jaden." Alexis stood cautiously, not quite sure what would happen next.

With his back turned, Jaden carefully set Yubel's sleeping head onto a patch of grass. He stood up slowly, but it was obvious that his movements were controlled, completely different from his posture just minutes ago.

Then he turned to face Alexis, who almost gasped. Jaden's mask had begun to crack. His normally expressionless visage showing signs of weariness and flashes of regret. His eyes, usually cold, retained a tiny bit of warmth that the old Jaden Yuki had once possessed.

They stood there in that position for a long time, gauging, calculating, mustering, as if in a game of chicken where the first person to speak would lose. Yet there was also a type of intimacy between them, an understanding that couldn't be expressed in words.

Alexis held her breath. Was this it? Could she bring back Jaden Yuki right here and now?

At that very moment, only a few meters from where the two were standing, came a shout, calling Alexis's name. The moment passed, and Jaden instantly snapped backward, wiping any emotion off his face. Yubel, seeming to sense something was wrong, woke immediately and shot up standing, glaring at Alexis.

An instant later, Chazz burst into the clearing.

"Oh good! I was looking all over for you Alexis. It was getting dark and-" he cut himself off when he caught sight of the person standing only a few feet ahead of her. "Ah. Um, hi Jaden."

"I'll be returning now," he stated briskly, his voice back to its cold demeanor. Although slightly less cold. Perhaps around five degrees less cold. Dirt crunched as Jaden stalked into the forest, not looking backwards. Yubel followed tightly, casting a suspicious glance at Chazz and Alexis before making her exit as well.

Right before Jaden vanished completely, Alexis felt a sudden urge coming from seemingly nowhere. "Hey Jaden!" she called after him. He froze. "You should go to the Duel Academy Dance!"

For a wild second, Alexis thought that Jaden would turn and say yes. But he only snorted and kept walking, disappearing into the shade of the trees.

Benten glared at Chazz. _You are the dumbest, most idiotic human I have ever met, were you aware of that?_

"Huh? What did I do?" asked Chazz frantically.

 _Never mind,_ sighed Benten. _You really are denser than you look._

"Hey!" cried Chazz indignantly. Trying to change the subject, he turned to Alexis. "Did you just ask _Jaden_ to the _dance?_ Just what in the world were you guys talking about?" he teased.

Alexis glared at Chazz, although a little less menacingly and a little more teasingly than Benten. "You really are an idiot, did you know that?" And with that, she headed back to Duel Academy, her duel spirit trailing behind.

After they were safely out of earshot, a confused Chazz looked at his Ojamas. "Any idea what that was about?"

 _Not one,_ said Ojama Black. _Women are all the same, I tell you. Never made sense to me._

Green and Yellow grunted in agreement.

 **God that fishing scene was hard to write. Let's hope I didn't screw it up too badly. Also, screw Chazz. Really? Just gotta mess up like that? WE WERE SO CLOSEEEEE**

 **And yeah, I 3 yubel obviously, so I had to give her a human form that was less demon-like. I'm just gonna imagine that it has something to do with the fact that she bonded with Jaden and is growing human emotion, thus she gets to develop like this. Literally only because author's bias. Ahh being powerful is nice. I mean, it makes no sense to have Yubel have another look, but I can't have her look like a demon the whole time**

 **Time to justify my "omg jaden played nice." ok this boy is confused as fuc okay? He's a battered teenager who's gone through hell and back, discovered that he's basically a monster personified, and that his friends betrayed him. No matter how corrupt he is, at heart, he is Fucking jaden yuki. Like, he's JADEN YUKI.**

 **Firstly, Alexis caught him at a time where he wasn't wearing a mask. He was back to the chill, non-edgy person. And because he was in such a state of vulnerability, especially with the person that he once considered his best friend (maybe more, we might never know), the masks temporarily come off.**

 **Second, okay this man is TIRED okay? He just fought a duel with some darkness and got shrekt by a shadow, is dealing with teenage emotions such as friendship and love and hurt, and to top it all off, he's cuddling with Yubel! (awwww)**

 **This guy just went into a hurricane and back, so the fact that his masks aren't on yet isn't too much of a surprise (I hope).**

 **Finally, remember when I said that all things are revealed this chapter? Yeah, when you write whatever comes to mind, this happens. Turns out not all things were revealed. Quite the opposite I think.**

 **I really should stop making promises.**

 **To end off this stupidly long thing, I will say that you should watch Darling in the Franxx if you have not yet done so. Just do it. All ya'll angsty lonely nerds will find it rather enjoyable. Trust me on that one**


End file.
